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A mother, a writer, a happiness-seeker and self-improvement junkie navigating through life in the city.

I arrived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest 12 days ago and today I head back home to the Bay Area.

Without a doubt I loved my entire stay here but I’m guessing it’s time for me to go home. I’m ready to get back to my normal day-to-day routine as a working mother of 3, never mind that I’m leaving one of those 3 here in Seattle.

Sami is the reason I came here in the first place. She turned 18 two days after I arrived and I wasn’t going to let her celebrate that milestone by herself. Staying here almost two weeks afterwards was good for me and I’m pretty sure it was good for her, too, even though she’d never admit it. It felt good to hang out with her everyday, see her thriving in her new surroundings and have some serious good laughs like we used to when she was still at home. ﻿

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I’m going to miss her like crazy when I get home. Surprisingly, there are some other things about Seattle that I’m going to miss.

The people. I’m going to miss the people here. They are so friendly and patient and kind. The guy who almost ran me over at SeaTac International as I was walking to the car took the time to knock on my window to apologize and asked if I was ok. The woman who cut me off when I was on I-5 traveling northbound animatedly waved her apology to me through her rear view mirror. The people driving really fast in the lane that I was trying to merge into? They would actually slow down the minute I signaled and let me in This doesn’t happen in California.

The coffee. I’m not a huge coffee connoisseur. A vanilla latte from Starbucks usually does the trick for me. But while in Seattle, I had the vanilla latte from Caffe Ladro and it was as if I never had a vanilla latte ever in my life. Uh-mazing. Really sad that there is no Caffe Ladro in the Bay Area and wondering what results I would get if I googled “where can I get coffee that tastes like Caffe Ladro in San Francisco”.

The trees. I’ve seen a pine or fir tree a time or two (or three or a hundred or a thousand) growing up in California. Maybe I took them for granted because when I saw these trees as I was driving along freeways passing through Seattle’s neighboring cities, I kid you not, I caught my breath a few times. I don’t remember ever ooh-ing and aah-ing that much over the trees in the Bay Area. I’m not even an artist yet I’m so inspired to pick up a few blank canvases and some acrylic paint to try to recreate all that natural beauty.

I’m not sure when I’ll be back up here again to once again enjoy all of these things that I’m going to miss. It probably won’t be until after the new year. Does this make me sad? I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. Can’t let it get to me though. Just going to remind myself that all of these things are likely going to be exactly the same when I return.

And the one thing in Seattle that can actually make its way to San Francisco will be doing so in 4 weeks. The countdown to Sami coming home for Thanksgiving has already begun.